What if Salvation
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if the Yellow-eyed demon trapped Sam in his vision? Chapter 4 of 4 up.
1. Vision

What if the yellow-eyed demon trapped Sam in his vision?

Sam walked out of the clinic where he had been recording all the names and addresses of every baby born six months ago. This was a small clinic, so he only had four names on his list. He wondered how his dad and brother had fared. Hopefully, they had gotten a small number also, and there wouldn't be too many kids to check out.

He started to head down the steps when he was gripped with a blinding pain. "Not now," he thought. "We have to concentrate on finding this demon." Then he was in his head, seeing not the world around him, but an event in the future. A woman with dark hair was tapping on a light that was flickering. He saw a clock stop and the woman walked into a nursery. She walked over to the window and looked out as a train whistle blew nearby.

The world came back into focus. "That must be where the demon is going to strike next," he realized, since nothing much happened in the vision. He pulled out a map he had of the town looking for train tracks. It looked like train tracks ran by a residential section about a mile from where he was. He took off running.

He arrived in a park and crossed it to see a house where he recognized the curtains from his vision. Across the street, he saw the woman from his vision walking, pushing a stroller. Not really having a plan, Sam ran over to her. "Hi," he said, "My name's Sam, I just moved in down the street."

"Oh, hi Sam, my name's Monica," she answered.

"Have you lived in the neighborhood for long?" Sam asked, trying to stall for time to figure out what to do.

"We moved here right after Rosie was born," Monica answered.

Oh, yeah, find out how old Rosie is. "How old is Rosie?" Sam asked, trying to sound casual.

"Six months, today," Monica answered, proudly.

"Six months, today?" Sam said. That meant the demon was coming tonight.

"Yeah, she's big, right? Growing like a weed. Smart, too. She looks at you and it's like she can read your mind."

So, she has psychic abilities already, maybe? Sam noticed that Monica was looking at him oddly. He hadn't said anything for a couple of minutes.

"Monica…" he trailed off, having no idea what he could say to her that she wouldn't think sounded crazy. "Take care of yourself," he ended, lamely.

"Yeah, you too, Sam," Monica said, as she saw her husband pulling into their driveway and went to meet with him.

Sam headed across the street to the park. He looked back at Monica and her family, when once again a blinding pain seized him. He saw Monica going into the nursery again and there was a man there. Monica said, "What are you" that was as far as she got before she was thrown against the wall. She slid up it to the ceiling, where her stomach began to bleed and she caught on fire.

Then something weird happened. The man turned so that Sam could see him and his eyes glowed yellow. "Sorry, Sammy," he said. "I can't let you prevent this. You're going to have to stay in this vision."

Sam had only a second to wonder what that meant before the vision started over from the beginning. It played out until Monica started burning and started again. Each time it started the pain worsened. The fourth time, Sam grabbed his head, sank to his knees and let out a scream.


	2. Hospital

Monica's husband was looking past her to the park and Monica turned around to follow his gaze. That boy she had just met, Sam, was grabbing his head and falling to his knees. He let out a terrible scream. Monica was pulling out her cell phone to call an ambulance, while running over to see if she could help. Her husband, Charlie, stayed with Rosie.

"Hello, yes, I need an ambulance," she said as the phone was answered and she reached Sam, pretty much at the same time.

"Where are you?" the dispatcher asked. Monica gave her her address.

"What happened?"

"There's a young man who is gripping his head and he was screaming in pain," Monica answered.

"How old is he?"

"I'm not sure, early twenties, I'd say," Monica answered.

"Do you know if this has happened before?"

"I have no idea, I just met him a few minutes ago. He said he just moved here."

"OK, an ambulance is on the way."

SSSSSSS

John and Dean sat in the hotel room, going over their lists. John looked at his watch. "Where's your brother? He was supposed to come straight here from the clinic," he snapped at Dean.

"I don't know. I'll call him," Dean said pulling out his cell phone and hitting the button to call Sam.

"Hello?" he heard, but it wasn't Sam's voice.

"Who is this?" Dean asked, and John's head snapped up. His first thought was that Sam had been kidnapped.

"This is Dr. Tony Jones. Who is this?"

"Dean. Why do you have my brother's phone? Is he OK?" Dean asked, trying not to panic.

"What's going on?" John asked. Dean held up a finger for John to wait.

"Your brother collapsed and was brought here. He seems to be in a lot of pain. Does he have a history of headaches?" the doctor asked.

Dean remembered Sam getting headaches when he had visions back in Michigan with Max, but couldn't very well tell the doctor about that. "He had a couple severe headaches a few months back, but nothing since then," Dean settled on.

"OK, if you could get over to General Hospital, so we could talk, that would probably help," the doctor said.

"OK, we'll be there."

"What's going on?" John asked again, when Dean had hung up.

"Sam's at General Hospital. I guess he collapsed with head pain of some sort."

"General Hospital? That's the hospital I was at. Why didn't they keep him at the clinic where he was?" John asked.

"I don't know. We can ask when we get there. Let's go," Dean said, impatient to get to Sam.

SSSSSSSSS

Dean and John ran into the lobby of the hospital. "We're looking for my brother, Sam, he was brought in after collapsing," Dean explained, not knowing what last name was on the ID Sam currently had in his pocket.

"Yes, here's his doctor now," the nurse said.

The doctor had walked up while Dean was asking about Sam. "You're brother is non-responsive and in a lot of pain, but he seems to be awake. We gave him morphine, but it hasn't had any effect, which is odd unless he's built up a tolerance. Does your brother have a drug dependence?"

"No way," both John and Dean answered at the same time.

"There's not much else we can do for him right now," the doctor said. We have no idea what is causing the pain, and because of that and the fact that we've already given him morphine, I'm reluctant to give him anything else. I have him scheduled for an MRI in fifteen minutes so we can find out what is going on. You can go sit with him until it's time to take him down."

"Thanks, doc," Dean said, and headed to the room the doctor pointed at. John was right behind him. What they saw disturbed both of them. Sam was moaning and gripping the sides of the bed so that his knuckles were white.

"Sam?" Dean said. "Sammy, answer me." There was no indication that Sam even knew they were there.

SSSSSSSS

Sam watched Monica burn on the ceiling for the hundredth time when the yellow-eyed man turned to him once again. "Sammy, your brother and father are sitting right next to you and you can't tell them anything. " The man laughed. Sam wanted to answer him back somehow, but he couldn't speak. All he could do was feel pain.


	3. Park

The doctor came into the room. "We're going to take him down for an MRI now. I'm sorry, but you can't go with him."

"Is that why you brought him here?" John asked.

"What do you mean?" the doctor asked.

"He was at that clinic across town when this happened, right? " John asked.

"No, I believe he was at the Train Park," the doctor answered.

"Train Park?" Dean asked, "Is that like an amusement park or a train museum?"

"No, it's just a regular park, but it's near the train tracks. We don't have much imagination in naming things in this town."

"What was he doing there?" John asked.

"I have no idea. I really do need to get him to the MRI."

Dean and John went out to the nurse. " Can you tell us where Train Park is?" Dean asked.

The nurse gave him directions and told him that she hoped his brother was feeling better. She also handed Dean Sam's personal effects. Dean thanked her and he and John left for the park.

SSSSSSSS

John and Dean got out of the Impala and started looking around the park. "What are we looking for anyway?" John asked.

"I don't know," Dean said, turning to look at his father. Across the street, he saw a stroller in a driveway. John followed his gaze.

"What are you thinking, Sam followed up on the leads he got from the clinic instead of heading back to the hotel?" John asked.

"I don't know, maybe," Dean answered as a woman exited the house and went to the mailbox.

"Excuse me," Dean said running over.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could help me out. My brother apparently collapsed in the park today and I'm trying to find out if anyone saw it happen," Dean began.

"You mean Sam?" Monica interrupted.

"Yeah," Dean said, surprised. He hadn't expected Sam to introduce himself to people. "You know Sam?"

"I met him this afternoon. He said he just moved here, asked how long I'd lived here, which of course I turned into a bragging session about my baby, Rosie."

"Baby?" Dean asked. "How old?"

"Six months, I thought you wanted to know what happened to Sam?"

"Right, go on."

"Well, my husband came home and I was talking to him, when we noticed Sam across the street, clutching his head, on his knees and screaming. It was awful."

"Then what happened?" Dean asked.

"I called an ambulance," Monica answered, matter-of-factly.

"Did he say anything?" Dean asked.

"It sounded like he said No, but I can't be sure if he was just moaning."

"Thanks."

Dean returned to his father. "She has a six month old baby and Sam was talking to her before he collapsed."

"Let's see his notebook. Is this the first place on his list?" John asked.

Dean dug out Sam's notebook and scanned looking for Elm Street. "I don't see this address on his list, or a Rosie."

"Rosie?" John asked, and pulled out his own notebook. "I had a Rosie on my list. See, here it is, Rosie, and the address is Elm Street. How did Sam know about a name from my list?"

"I was afraid of this," Dean said, almost to himself.

"Afraid of what?" John asked.

"I think Sam had a vision showing him where the demon was going to strike next," Dean explained, reluctantly.

"A vision?" John asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, they started out a nightmares, then he had some in the day time."

"When were you planning on telling me this?" John asked.

"I guess now," Dean said. "Look we don't have time for this. According to your list, that demon is coming here tonight. We have to stop it."

Just then Dean's cell phone rang. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hello, Dean," said a female voice he couldn't quite place.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"Meg."

"Meg, aren't you dead?"

"No, but that fall really hurt my feelings. I want to talk to your dad."

"I don't know where my dad is," Dean lied.

"It's time for the grownups to talk. Put your father on, now," Meg demanded.

John held out his hand for the phone and Dean handed it to him.

"This is John."

"Hi, John, I'm Meg, a friend of your boys. How's Sam by the way?"

"Fine," John lied. "What do you want?"

"Yesterday, I was in Minnesota. I killed your friend, Jim Murphy. Today, I'm in Nebraska with another friend of yours. Say hi."

John heard the phone being moved and then he heard his friend Caleb's voice, "John, whatever they want don't give it to them."

"We want the Colt." It was Meg again.

"No way," John said. He heard a yell and then what sounded like gurgling.

"I just killed Caleb. I'm going to kill more of your friends if you don't hand over the Colt, John," Meg threatened.

John hung up.

"We're not going to answer that again. We can't afford to," John said to Dean.

"What did she want?" Dean asked.

"The Colt and she killed Caleb," John answered.

"What do we do, now?" Dean asked.

"We come back here tonight and kill her boss," John replied.


	4. Showdown

John and Dean went back to the hospital to check on Sam before they headed back to Monica's to kill the demon.

"Dr. Jones, do you have the results from the MRI?" John asked.

"Yes, it's very strange. We can't find anything abnormal going on. It looks like he's dreaming, but he appears to be wide awake," the doctor answered.

"Can we see him?" Dean asked.

"Go ahead," the doctor answered.

"Hey Sam," Dean said. Sam just stared sightlessly at him. The moaning from earlier appeared to have continued nonstop.

"Sam, we're going to go kill this demon, and then you'll be fine," Dean promised, hoping it was true.

"Dean we have to go," John said.

SSSSSSSSSS

Sam watched the demon burn Monica yet again. He couldn't take it much more. The demon turned to him a third time. "Sam, your father and brother think they're going to kill me tonight. What do you think?"

Sam couldn't answer him, but he could only hope it was true.

"Well, to punish them for their arrogance, I'm going to increase your pain levels."

The doctors came running when they heard the screams coming from Sam's room. "Let's sedate him," the doctor decided. A needle was pushed into Sam's arm. The screaming stopped, but not the vision or the pain.

SSSSSSSSSS

John and Dean were sitting out in the car waiting for the demon to arrive. Suddenly, the radio was playing static, and the lights inside the house were flickering. "It's here John announced," and he and Dean jumped out of the car and raced for the front door.

Dean kicked the door in and Charlie shouted, "Who are you?"

"Charlie, what's going on?" they heard Monica call from upstairs.

"Monica, get the baby," Charlie commanded.

"Stay out of the nursery," John yelled as Dean began to restrain the husband.

"We're here to help," Dean was saying. John sprinted up the stairs. "What are you," he heard and followed the voice.

"Hey," he yelled when he saw a figure hovering by the crib. He shot, but the figure disappeared. The woman fell back down to the floor and Dean ran in. "Grab the baby," John ordered.

Dean grabbed the baby while John helped Monica up and they all ran out of the house, as the crib and caught fire, spreading much quicker than a natural fire would have.

SSSSSSSSSSSS

Sam watched Monica go up the ceiling and then he saw his dad run in. He watched as everything unfolded and the demon disappeared. After the fire started and his father, brother, Monica, and Rosie had left the room, the demon reappeared. "Looks like I'll need a consolation prize, Sammy," it said, and disappeared once more.

He reappeared next to Sam's bedside, where Sam saw him, but realized that this was still part of a vision. "Sammy, how are you feeling?" he asked and reached out with his hand to stroke Sam's head. Sam wanted to pull away, but he couldn't do anything. He was sedated where it was really happening and trapped in a vision where he was watching it happen. He saw his dad and Dean come in.

"Who are you?" Dean asked, and gasped as he saw the yellow eyes.

"Get away from my son," John hissed as he shut the door behind him and pulled out the Colt simultaneously.

"Give me that and I'll let him go, physically and mentally," the demon bargained.

John hesitated.

"Dad, give it to him," Dean said.

John still just stood there, but the demon held out his hand and flung John against the wall causing the gun to fly out of his hands. The demon got up to go get it, when Dean started forward. The demon threw him against the wall, too. The demon returned to Sam and said, "Now, since you didn't give it to me, but I had to take it, should I really let him go?"

"Please," Dean begged.

The demon laughed. "He doesn't even like you, Dean. He'd rather be off at college having fun than to be around you. He's also John's favorite, so if I get rid of him, I'd actually be doing you a favor."

"It's not true," Sam thought. "Don't believe him, Dean."

"Just leave and let him go," John said.

"Why should I?" the demon asked. He reached down and put his hand on Sam's throat, not applying any pressure, but the threat was clear.

"Because you need him for later. Let him go for now."

"Dad, what are you talking about?" Dean asked.

"Fine, I got what I came for anyway," the demon said and disappeared.

John and Dean fell away from the wall and Sam started to wake up. He moaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Dean?" he said.

"Yeah, I'm right here," Dean said, going up to the bed.

"It's not true."

"What's not true?" Dean asked.

"That I don't like you and I don't want to be around you," Sam answered. "It's not true."

"I know that, Sam."

"Dad, what did you mean about the demon needing me later? Does he have plans for me?" Sam asked. He didn't want to know, but he felt like he needed to.

John considered. He couldn't really say he didn't know, he was the one that brought it up in the first place. "Sam, I know he has plans for all the kids like you, but I don't know what they are. I figured I would just try to use that as a bargaining chip," John lied. He knew exactly what the plans were, but Sam and Dean both seemed to accept his words.

SSSSSSSSS

"How are you feeling?" Dean asked.

"I have a wicked bad headache, but other than that I'm fine," Sam answered.

"We should probably sneak him out of here before they figure out the insurance is no good," Dean said.

"Yeah, good idea," John agreed, and went to the door to make sure the hallway was clear. Dean was helping Sam out of bed. John threw him his shirt and said, just put this stuff over your gown, we've got to hurry. They waited while Sam quickly dressed and headed out to the car.

"What now?" Sam asked when they were driving off.

"Back to the motel to get our stuff," John answered.

"No, that's not what I meant. What about the demon?"

"Well, I don't know, Sam. We don't have a way to kill it now. The best we can do is exorcise it, and I'm not sure that's worth the risk. He'd probably be back up before too long," John said, thinking.

"So, there's no other way to kill a demon, besides the Colt?" Dean asked.

"I've never heard of anything, and believe me, I've been looking," John answered.

"I'm sorry. If it wasn't for me you'd still have the Colt," Sam said.

"No, if it wasn't for you, Monica would be dead," Dean countered.

"Sammy, it wasn't your fault. Besides, it disappeared when I shot at it anyway, so who even knows if I could ever have killed it anyway," John said.

They were silent the rest of the way to the motel, each thinking what losing the only way to kill the demon meant.

The End.


End file.
